The Quebec studio B Df’rent Games has obtained the first exclusive worldwide license to develop long-term game software inspired by the images, films, music and even archives of Charlie Chaplin and his famous wanderer character. The agreement reached with the children of the artist allows original creations for different existing and future digital platforms ranging from mobile phones to personal computers, including the metaverse.
The new company B Df’rent Games is partnering with the Montreal group Indie Asylum to begin the creative work. A handful of employees are already at work clearing the premises of the Montreal company with a broad objective of delivering a first game within a few years, perhaps as early as next year.
The agreement with the rights holders was signed in February. It has just been publicly revealed.
“What is original and unique is that we hold an exclusive and worldwide license good for a generation to develop video games that feature the hero Charlot”, summarizes the To have to Yves Durand, co-founder of B Df’rent Games, met Monday afternoon in the studios of Indie Asylum with his partner Robert Young. “We are going to update it, reincarnate the icon of the vagabond in a mode of communication of today. Everything that could be designed and marketed in this way in the world will be done here, from our Montreal studios. »
Why there, and not in Europe or the United States, where Charlie Chaplin’s life and career took place? The answer can be explained by the links between Mr. Durand and the creator’s heirs. They have known each other for twenty years. The Quebec museographer helped design Chaplin’s World, a museum inaugurated in 2016 in memory of the creator and his work and installed in his former Swiss residence, the Ban de Corsier-sur-Vevey mansion. Mr. Durand won the favor of a contract desired by many other exhibition pros by promising to do nothing but let the artist explain himself.
The same respect for the “Chaplin spirit” animates digital entrepreneurs. “We are not going to redo a Chaplin film. We want to be inspired by his values, his vision of the world, his philosophy”, summarizes Mr. Young, revealing the watchword guiding the designers of the games: “ Chaplin is back! »
Mr. Durand adds that the video Charlot will be aimed at gamers who will not be attracted by yet another violent game. “We will laugh again at the great stupidity and the powerful,” he said. Charlot laughed at Hitler. He took the side of the poor, the little ones, the indoctrinated soldiers, the robotic workers. It is at the center of a humanist, pacifist work, and these ideals will be central in our creations. »
Charles Spencer Chaplin (1889-1977), born in poverty in London, had a career in cinema in the United States from 1914 and quickly became a world star with his mistreated, but kind and optimistic wanderer character, often opposed to figures of oppression and authority. He signed as an actor, screenwriter or director of more than 80 films.
The widow and the orphan
“For the Chaplin family as for us, it is essential: we will offer games that avoid violence, the absolute quest for power, sexism, racism, says Mr. Durand again. The Tramp isn’t perfect, but in our games as in the movies, he will defend the widow and the orphan. »
Charlie Chaplin was also a composer, and it is his work of “sounding” his silent films in the 1950s and 1960s which partly explains the extension of trademarks until around 2045 for his main masterpieces. Bubbles Incorporated SA, founded in 1972, is responsible for protecting the image and commercial exploitation of Charlie Chaplin. The agreement with B Df’rent Games also gives it access to branding by the games, Chaplin being a registered trademark, commercially protected, like a product, with its own characteristics (silhouette, accessories, etc.).
The association with Indie Asylum (IA) is part of B Df’rent Games’ desire to collaborate, which could lead to other partnerships. IA brings together a dozen SMEs active in game development, marketing and even events. A crowdfunding campaign is planned on the Kickstarter platform for the spring of 2023. Here again, the spirit of Chaplin, co-founder of United Artists, seems to hover.
“We started conversations with studios in the United States and Europe, and it was frankly difficult to find partners who don’t make war games,” says Young. We wanted a company that respected Chaplin’s values. We traveled around the world, and finally, we found the perfect partner here, very close. »
The playful potential seems immense, and the explorations have barely begun. We don’t yet know how the fundamental interactivity of the medium will influence the creation, nor if Charlot will be an avatar or if the proposals will relate to general themes or to films in particular.
“There is nothing too decided yet: we study the material, we do tests, we work on the rhetoric, on what we want to say and what we want to do, rather than on the first game like such, ”summarizes Danny Godin, chief operating officer at IA, who does not even want to promise a first commercialization for 2023. A few of its developers have started work. Others will swell the Chaplin team as more game orders are delivered in the works.
“We are aware of the challenge and the responsibility,” says Mr. Durand. The small and medium size of our company makes us hope that we have more chances to succeed than to fail. »